Happy 28th!

"Nothing is worth more than this day."
-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Cookie bowls and ice cream for Rob's 28th birthday

My 28th birthday has come and gone. And, Rob's has, too. We celebrated each other all week, and now we're eager to see what our 29th year has in store.

This past year was one of my hardest yet... definitely my toughest year of adulthood so far. At its best, it was a year of upheaval and uncertainty. At its worst, I struggled with failure and anger.

Me on my 28th birthday

With all the time I have had on my hands over the last year, you would have thought (heck, even I thought) that I would have it all figured it out by now. What I want I do. Who I want to be. Maybe even, how to do it.

But, today as I write this, I know little more than I knew a year ago. Except that I do make it through. And, that there's comfort in knowing some stuff is beyond your control, out of your hands.

As for the future, we're taking it one day at a time... enjoying the here and the now. Looking forward to the months and years ahead, but understanding that they will arrive only when they're ready.

Happy Birthday, my biking boy

"It takes a long time to grow young."
-Pablo Picasso

FYI... did you know that both Rob's and my birthdays can both fall on Father's Day?!?! I was born on Father's Day, and his birthday is today.

25 may be too old for themed birthday parties. But that doesn't really stop us! (We're young at heart!!) This year to honor Rob's fairly new hobby, almost every gift he received was related to cycling. A pair of gloves, a wallet made of recycled tires, a new jersey, money to buy a hydration backpack...

So while he was at work this afternoon (it sucks to work on your birthday!), I attempted to make him a bicycle cookie cake. Using a Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix (guess I don't love him enough to bake cookies from scratch!) and a page from the Cannondale catalog as a guide, I set about to form the dough into the shape of a bicycle.I set it in a 375 degree oven as the package suggested and left it for 15 minutes.
Of course, I had forgotten that the dough would expand in the oven, so when I pulled it out I was surprised by a bloated bike. Nervous but determined, I prodded forward, icing the large cookie with white icing. After that cooled and set, I traced the shape of the bike with green icing.
I'm pretty tickled with the way it came out (despite my cookie decorating inadequacies!) and hope that Rob is too, when he gets home.

25 and still alive

“It is in the compelling zest of high adventure and of victory, and in creative action, that man finds his supreme joys.”
-Antoine de Saint-Exupery

And now.... for the big list. The to-do list of things I hope to accomplish this year. [Elise has a great idea to document her own list in a mini-scrapbook. That's my goal, too!] Here's my list:

1. Bike a 50+ mile ride.
2. Make our bed more often than not.
3. Plan and take an awesome vacation.
4. Get a teaching job.
5. Plan and host a party at our house.
6. Learn to like Diet Coke.
7. Organize a scrapbook of our engagement and wedding preparations.
8. Switch to reusable feminine hygiene products--maybe TMI, but it's on the list nevertheless.
9. Take a craft class or workshop.
10. Learn to effectively use our digital SLR camera.
11. Start the teacher certification process.
12. Collect stories from family and friends about my dad.
13. Organize photos from this year into an album.
14. Fix up the extra bedroom so that it's cozy for guests.
15. Write letters and cards to faraway friends and family.
16. Work on my grandparents' biographies.
17. Improve my tennis game.
18. Make the most of the gift of Callie and Jordan living less than 45 minutes away.
19. Explore Gwinnett County and all it has to offer.
20. Make 2 new friends.
21. Join the Georgia State Park Canyon Climbers Club.
22. Incorporate one new fruit into my weekly menu.
23. Make something special for my new niece or nephew.
24. Come up with and stick to some kind of housecleaning routine.
    
25. Document this list.

Who I am at 25

"All men should strive to learn before they die what they are running from, and to, and why."
-James Thurber

A snapshot of me, on this day, twenty-five years after I entered this world. [Thanks Mama, for pushing me out and for pushing me forward!] Here goes:

1. I am a woman, a wife, a daughter, a sister, a cousin, a niece, a teacher, a designer, a Southerner, an optimist, a friend, a listener, a reader, and the list goes on...
   
2. I visit the following websites daily: Gmail, Facebook, the GCPS job listing site, and the myriad of blogs that I've bookmarked in Google Reader.
   
3. I want to travel to Yosemite, Philadelphia, Niagara Falls, and Australia.
4. I love to eat mashed potatoes, chips and salsa, and chocolate toffee.
5. I think that my best physical features are my blue eyes.
6. I've never been one to have lots of close friends. My best friends are my husband, my sister, and my mom.
   
7. I can't wait until I get a teaching job.
8. I didn't think that I had a favorite color, until I looked around my house and saw that everything was green.
9. I wish I was athletic enough to keep up with my husband.
   
10. I think that my passion is recording memories and stories--now what do I do with that?
11. I admire Jordan Ferney, Elise Blaha, and my aunt Sally, and I'm embarrassed to admit that I've actually made lists about the things that I most admire about them.
12. I would plan events (parties, conferences, meetings, retreats, workshops) if I thought I could make a living doing it.
13. I like to cook, but sometimes it's hard to convince myself to walk downstairs to the kitchen to start. It's also not as enjoyable as it could be because I'm such a picky eater.
    
14. I am a Democrat because I believe that we're supposed to help each other out in this world.
15. I get physically ill in stressful shopping situations, like buying a car or attacking a sale.
16. I dream often of taking my future family on vacation.
17. I think that the perfect Friday evening is dinner out with my husband at a sit-down restaurant (preferably one we haven't eaten at in a while), a trip to Bruster's for ice cream, curling up with a Netflix movie, and in bed by midnight.
18. I regret very little in my life--there just isn't time for that. And, although there are people that I miss very much, looking back, I really had little power to keep them from leaving.
19. I shower every morning because my hair gets nasty so quickly. However, I have enjoyed a few no-commitment days lately, where I can just throw the hair up in a ponytail.
20. I really dislike being surrounded by lots of people. I think this is because I'm so short, and can't see over anybody.
21. I'm proud of my high school diploma and my college degree, but sometimes wonder if I squandered away my smarts.
22. I hope that I inspire my husband and my family to view life's ups and downs as an adventure.
    
23. I don't mind washing and folding the laundry, but I can wait weeks before I put it away--I'm trying to work on this.
24. I must project an image of a trustworthy, wise confidante because several times recently I've been approached by an acquaintance who just needed someone to listen.
25. I have twenty five years behind me, and the future ahead of me. Anything is possible...
    

From my 25th year

"A large volume of adventures may be grasped within this little span of life, by him who interests his heart in everything."
-Laurence Sterne

In eight and a half hours, I will officially be a quarter of a century old. Gee golly, that's old.

While I plan to explore who I am today and look toward the future, today I wish to commemorate the top 25 adventures from my twenty-fifth year.

1. Made my first key lime pie for Rob's 24th birthday!
2. Took the plunge and got my bangs cut--lesson learned!
3. Stood by my darling sister as her matron of honor and threw her one hell of a bachelorette party, if I do say so myself!
   
4. Climbed Stone Mountain... finally!
5. Incorporated conditioner into my shower routine after years of thinking it would make my hair too oily!
   
6. Watched every bit of the 2008 Olympics that I could squeeze into my schedule!
7. Walked up Sabino Canyon in Tucson, climbed Bell Rock & Cathedral Rock in Sedona, and hiked into the Grand Canyon!
   
8. Savored the top layer of our wedding cake on the eve of our 1st wedding anniversary!
9. Qualified for a mortgage, bought a house, and everything that goes along with that!
10. Took the GACE exams--one step closer to teacher certification!
    
11. Repainted three rooms to better fit our decorating style!
    
12. Voted for Barack Obama, hoping that he indeed could bring "change" to this grand country!
13. Wrote and preached the sermon at church on Laity Sunday!
    
14. Collected wishes and donations to honor my mom's fiftieth birthday and her dedication to the children of Juarez, Mexico!
15. Helped my mom redecorate her bedroom: new paint, new floorplan, new curtains--what a transformation!
    
16. Quit my job to pursue a career in teaching!
    
17. Taught as a substitute teacher--first in a middle school computer science class, and then day-to-day at middle schools around the county!
    
18. Bought a bike and started riding!
    
19. Gathered with my family to celebrate my grandfather's life!
20. Baked homemade bread in the bread machine!
21. Organized the craft room!
22. Sewed first set of curtains for above craft room!
    
23. Made $38.25 at our first yard sale!
24. Learned how to grill!
25. Started tutoring at Sylvan!
    

Top Chef

"The discovery of a new dish does more for the happiness of mankind than the discovery of a star."
-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

For our birthdays, my mom gave us a gift certificate to My Girlfriend’s Kitchen [they’ve just been bought out by A Dinner A’Fare], a make-your-own dinner place in town. This is apparently all the rage in my hometown, but I have just recently heard about such a unique concept.

On Saturday, Rob and I stopped by to make ten meals that we could take home to freeze for later. It was so much fun! At each station, we measured and poured each [fresh!] ingredient into our take-home container.
Now we have a freezer full of Bok Choy Beef, Chicken Crepes, Siesta Chicken Stew, Chicken Skewers, and more!! Yum!

Birthday week

“There are three hundred and sixty-four days when you might get un-birthday presents ... and only one for birthday presents, you know.”
-Lewis Carroll

So this is the result of husband and wife having birthdays in the same week, car dealerships feeling that they need to share in your celebration, and a crazy grandmother who thinks that “you’re so special that you deserve two birthday cards.”
We went pretty low-key for Rob’s birthday as well. But while he had weekend duty, I spent Saturday morning baking a key lime pie. I squeezed the limes, crushed the graham crackers, and attempted the meringue two-and-a-half times before success. Rob was thrilled, and in fact, asked if we could have pie for dinner last night. Don’t tell—but we did! He has now decided that I should try a new pie every weekend—and as long as I continue to substitute Splenda for sugar, even our waistlines may agree.

(I promise the meringue looked better than that before I put it in the refrigerator!!)

4 days older

“All the world is birthday cake, so take a piece, but not too much.”
-George Harrison

Rob’s birthday is just around the corner (as in next week!!). I haven’t gotten anything for him. In fact, I really haven’t even thought of anything to get him.

That’s why I’m glad that my birthday is just 4 days before his. I can wait to see what he gets me, and then still have time to find something for him!! Hopefully it won’t need to be ordered online!